


Of Quidditch games and library books

by lanterninthenight



Category: The Outsiders - All Media Types, The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Grief/Mourning, Idiots in Love, M/M, Rivalry, purly are quidditch rivals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:41:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28798536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanterninthenight/pseuds/lanterninthenight
Summary: Curly Shepard has one thing on his mind while starting his fourth year at Hogwarts - Leading the Gryffindor Quidditch team to victory for the first time since Darrel Curtis graduated.He didn't expect his self proclaimed Quidditch rival and Ravenclaw seeker Ponyboy Curtis to distract him from this.
Relationships: Ponyboy Curtis/Curly Shepard
Comments: 11
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

“ - I’m tellin’ ya it’s our year I can fuckin’ feel it!”

“God, can you shut up about that stupid sport for five minutes Curly! You’ve been goin’ on about it all Summer!”

Curly Shepard scowls at his sister as they push their trolleys through the busy train station. His brother Tim is ahead of them, his long legs striding at a quick pace towards platform 9 and ¾. Curly rolls his eyes at this. Tim is like this every year, practically sprinting through the station as though they’re terribly late - sure he _almost_ missed it last year but, keyword, he _didn’t_!

He calls out to his older brother, “Oi Tim, tell Angela what you said - you know about Gryffindor havin’ a good team this year!”

Tim doesn’t turn around to look at them but yells an answer back. “I said your team is _okay_ so don’t get cocky, everyone knows it’s Slytherin’s year anyway.”

Angela, despite referring to Quidditch as a _‘stupid sport’_ a few moments earlier, whoops at the mention of Slytherin winning. 

Curly scowls even deeper at both of his snake siblings (well the back of Tim’s head) and opens his mouth to start the ongoing fight of why his house is _far_ superior than horrible Slytherin when Tim spins around to face them. 

“Alright, you first Angel.” 

Curly stares at the pillar they’ve just reached. It looks the same as always - boring and ordinary. You would never guess it’s actually a gateway to another world. Curly hates that about it.

Angela quickly gives her trolley a quick one over and pats her new black cat (Curly can't remember it's name) quickly on the head and then runs towards platform 9 and ¾ , and disappears through the pillar. 

Tim then looks at Curly with _that_ look on his face. Curly rolls his eyes at this. 

“Nothin’ funny this time Curly.”

What Tim means by _‘Nothing funny’_ is Curly’s yearly tradition of trying to get a muggle to notice him disappear through the pillar. Like come _on_ how funny would it be to scare the shit out of a muggle by disappearing through a brick wall?? He actually managed to pull it off last year by getting the attention of a muggle woman in her 40s and then winking at her and then running through the wall. 

He wishes he got to see her reaction but he supposes it’s funnier that she’ll never see him again. He got an earful off Tim though, since she freaked out and began to call guards over to pillar and trying to run through it herself - meaning Tim couldn’t find a chance to get onto the platform himself and almost missed the train.

Again, keyword _almost_.

Curly pulls his trolley closer to him and begins a slow jog towards the pillar. He runs purposely slow so he can try to catch the eye of at least one muggle - just _one -_ and scare the everlasting hell out of them … 

_“Fuck!”_

Tim’s leg had reached out and given Curly a swift kick in the back and sent his younger brother tumbling through the wall and into platform 9 and ¾ - without disturbing the sanity of any muggles in the station.

Curly lands flat on his ass on the platform and lays dazed for a moment. Angela is nowhere to be seen, clearly not bothered to wait for them. Tim swiftly enters the platform from behind him and stops beside him, and reaches his hand down to help him up. Curly doesn’t take it - he’s not fucking falling for that one. 

Curly heaves himself up, using his trolley for support. “Glory Tim, I wasn’t even gonna do anythin’!” 

His brother snorts. “Liar.”

Curly doesn’t respond. His brother knows him too well at this point.

Tim eyes scan over the bustling platform before looking at Curly once more. 

“I’m gonna go find my friends, so get on the train and don’t do anythin’ stupid,” Tim says, just as he always says before he leaves Curly alone for more than five minutes.

Curly nods not really listening, his own eyes scan over the platform looking for his friends through the crowds of students and families saying tearful goodbyes and all that corny shit. It’s mostly first years getting all weepy and - _holy hell_ that first year is fucking _tiny_ , they get smaller every fucking year!

He grabs a hold of his trolley and begins to push through the crowd. Tim has already disappeared into the sea of people, Curly can vaguely make out his brother's tall stature slowly disappearing out of view. He can see students stepping out of Tim’s way as he walks towards them which makes him smirk. Most students - especially the younger ones - are real scared of Tim.

Curly gets onto the train without _‘doing anything stupid’_ \- yeah, fuck you Tim! - and begins to search through the compartments for his friends. Various people greet him as he walks, either from being in with him, Tim or Angela. A lot of people know the Shepard siblings throughout Hogwarts, Curly honestly really likes the attention it brings him. Most of it is from Tim though - but hey, he’s only a fourth year and already has a pretty big reputation without Tim! Plus Tim’s a seventh year now so Curly will be top dog next year. And he can’t fucking wait. 

A wolf whistle from behind makes him spin around. 

“Lookin’ good Shepard!”

Two-Bit Mathews grins broadly at Curly, already clad in his Hogwarts uniform with his green Slytherin tie loose around his neck, Curly gives him the finger but grins back. In all honesty, he thinks Mathews is a bit of a fool but he likes him well enough. Tim is good buddies with him, being in the same house and year and what not. Two-Bit then slips into a compartment that is so loud and chaotic Curly can hear it from the other end of the corridor.

He eventually finds his own friends near the end of the train. Benny and Gwen are in a fierce battle of exploding snap - which from what Curly can see, Gwen is winning. Ricky is stretched out across the train seat, casually tossing a ball against the roof. He really is glad to see them after a Summer apart. They’re all in Gryffindor house, like him. Curly likes them real well, you get to know the people in your house good at Hogwarts - sharing a bathroom and all that shit. He’s on good terms with the rest of the fourth year Gryffindor's as well, but these three are his closest friends. 

He slides open the compartment door, making his presence known. “Hey y’all”

They all look up immediately.

“Shepard!” 

“Hey Curly!”

“Alright Shep?”

He grins at them all and saunters over to where Ricky is hogging the whole seat with his long legs and shoves them off to make room. Ricky smiles and leans towards him, clapping him on the back. 

“Good to see ya man.”

Benny has his back turned, still playing exploding snap with Gwen which is getting more vicious by the second.

“How was your Summer Curly?” he asks, without taking his eyes off his game. Curly doesn’t blame him, Gwen’s been known to cheat at any given chance.

“Decent enough, Tim and my old man were at each other’s throats the whole time though but that’s usual. Listen though I got some news, good news.” 

Gwen looks up at him with curiosity and Ricky leans forward, listening intently. Even Benny turns around from his cards to face him. Curly having news could be a hundred different possibilities. Last time it was about his attempt to get a baby dragon as a pet - long story.

Curly grins at them all, letting them all sit in anticipation for a moment - you know for the build up - before saying, “I got a new broom.”

Gwen rolls her eyes and Benny sighs and turns back around, both of them going back to their game. Curly scoffs at them - _imagine_ not being interested in Quidditch. Their loss. He adverts his attention to Ricky, who is excitedly talking a mile a minute. 

“- shit man this is fuckin’ great, I’m tellin’ we’re - as in me and you buddy - are gonna bring Gryffindor outta that slump! I can feel it, we’re gonna be the heroes of our house man!”

Curly’s glad he has a friend like Ricky, who shares his enthusiasm for Quidditch.

“Not to mention my broom is a Comet fuckin’ 360!” Curly boasts with pride. 

Ricky’s mouth falls open rather comically. “ _Holy shit_ we are so gonna kick ass this year!”

They high five. Curly is so fucking glad he can now speak to someone with some brains after a spending Summer with two Slytherins - who’s team can’t tell a quaffle from a bludger the _idiots_!

He and Ricky discuss Quidditch tactics for the rest of the train ride. 

* * *

Hogwarts is just the same as always - old, vast and full of secrets that are just waiting to be discovered by Curly. He and Ricky have taken it upon themselves to explore the castle inch by inch and after four years of running from Filch after curfew, they know the castle pretty well. Very much worth all the detentions they’ve served for it.

The whole school is seated in The Great Hall waiting for the sorting to take place. All the first years are standing in large huddle - some shaking with the cold, others with fear. Not that Curly’s helping with this. One of him and Ricky’s _many_ Hogwarts traditions is scaring the first years before the sorting. Benny says it’s mean to do that when they’re already freaked out enough but Curly and Ricky get a real kick out of it. Right now he has some red cheeked boy’s attention - who is definitely going to be a Hufflepuff by the way, Curly has a knack for these things - and using sign language is telling the kid - _“You’re dead.”_ Ricky does that throat-slit gesture thing and the kid just about wets himself, causing the both of them to fall into heaps of laughter of course.

“Oi,” Gwen hisses, kicking Ricky in the leg from across the table, “Shut up, Sorting’s starting.”

Ricky rubs his leg and sticks his tongue out at her. Gwen sneers at him right back. They do that a lot, they’re friends and all they just tend to … but heads. Curly usually eggs it on, you know for entertainment purposes. 

Professor McGonagall stands up, holding a long parchment. She clears her throat.

“Albertson, Cornelius!”

“ _Cornelius_? Poor fucker,” Curly whispers to Ricky. 

Ricky nods at the boy who has now gone completely pale and is slowly placing the Sorting Hat on his head, with shaky hands. 

“Nah, look at the poor chap, the name suits him.”

They both snort at that. 

“Bet you Hufflepuff,” Curly whispers back. 

“You’re on.”

The hat has been on poor Cornelius’ head for about 30 seconds now - which is pretty long for a Sorting. 

“SLYTHERIN!”

“ _Damn!”_ Curly hisses as he watches the kid sprint to Slytherin table, who are clapping for their new member. 

Ricky grins at him. “You just put everyone who looks like a dud into Hufflepuff.”

“Obviously, Hufflepuff is full of duds!” 

Ricky laughs. Curly stretches his neck, trying to look for his older brother from the Slytherin table on the other side of the room.

He grins wryly. “Bet you Tim’s real pissed they got a fuckin’ Cornelius in their house.”

Both boys laugh again, causing Gwen to shoot them a look. 

“Do you two always have to be so _rude_?” 

Ricky nods solemnly. “Yeah, we do.”

Gwen turns back around to watch Mae Ackles get sorted into Ravenclaw. 

Curly and Ricky continues their game for the whole sorting - which fucking drags by the way, especially when you’re waiting to eat. They finally get to the last of the kids - who is sorted into Gryffindor by the way, lucky chap - and finally begin the feast.

Curly begins to load his plate with every food item he can see because _fuck_ he’s missed Hogwarts food. The Great Hall is bustling with laughter, chatter and warmth giving Curly he can’t quite describe … so _familiar_. It’s a feeling he only feels at Hogwarts, never at home.

“- France was sick though man, reckon I was really fucked over bein’ born here instead of there.” Nico McDormand says to his fellow fourth year Gryffindor's. 

Nico is one of five boys who Curly shares a dorm with - the others being Ricky, Benny and that kid Charlie. Curly likes Nico well enough and he reckons they would probably be closer if it weren’t for _Charlie_. Curly doesn’t like him, not one bit. He’s a real wet blanket, always sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. He practically clings to Nico, which means Curly doesn’t spend a lot of time with them. Though, he’s kind of glad Charlie clung to Nico, at least it keeps him off Curly and Ricky’s back. 

“Man that sounds cool,” Benny replies wistfully, “I was with my aunt all Summer. She lives in the middle of nowhere, most fun I had was lookin’ at cows.”

“Shit I’d love that,” Ricky chimes in, “Loads of space in the country for Quidditch.”

Curly snorts. “Not for Benny here - you after forgettin’ our flyin’ lesson in first year?”

All the boys laugh at the memory of a young Benny throwing up before getting two feet off the ground. Benny scowls just as he always does when it’s brought up. 

“It’s been three years guys, let it go!”

They all laugh even more. It’s the kind of thing that gets funnier with each year, mostly depending on Benny’s reactions to it.

“Hey,” Gwen leans over into their conversation, “Did you guys see? The Curtis’ are back.”

This grabs all of their attention. Curly eyes begin to scan the Hufflepuff table, which is next to theirs. 

“Look,” Ricky says and nods towards the far left of the Hufflepuff table. “There’s Sodapop.”

Sodapop Curtis doesn't look any different - at least not to Curly - and from what he can tell, he isn’t acting any different either. Sodapop looks as though he’s talking the ear off of his fellow Hufflepuff’s. 

Benny’s standing up slightly in his seat. “I can’t see Ponyboy anywhere…”

“He’s here,” Nico chimes in, “I was with him on the train.”

“How is he? I wrote to him over Summer but I haven’t got a chance to talk to him in person yet.” Gwen asks. 

“He’s … _different_. Quieter,” Nico replies, frowning. Gwen frowns too, looking troubled by his answer. 

“Shit, can’t blame him. I’d be quiet too if both my folks died,” Benny says, shaking his head softly. 

The big mystery last year was the Curtis brothers disappearance at the end of last year. Ponyboy was pulled out of their potions class, a month before Summer break, Curly didn’t see him again after that. He later learned that Sodapop was gone as well and the rumours began to spread like wildfire around the school. The truth came out eventually - their parents passed away - but people kept spreading different stories of the actual incident. Curly heard at least five different stories of how their folks died. The rumours only died down when Steve Randle, Two-Bit Mathews and Dallas Winston began hexing anyone who so much as opened their mouth about the situation. Curly remembers how Randle was banned from playing the Quidditch cup final, due to the fact he hexed a fourth year so badly he was in hospital wing for a day or two. The kid was talking shit about how glad he was that Ponyboy was gone, so Ravenclaw wouldn’t be able to win the Quidditch cup this year. Ravenclaw did win in the end, and Slytherin lost big time without Randle there. Curly thinks the kid deserved it.

The Curtis’ are very well known throughout Hogwarts. Their older brother, Darrel, graduated three years ago but left behind a huge legacy. He was in their house - Gryffindor, and with him playing as chaser on the team, Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup six years in a row. They’ve kind of been in a major slump since he left - but Curly’s about to change that this year !! - but the older years tend to still bask in those glory days. The middle one, Sodapop is better known for his looks and the trouble he and his friends cause. Curly kind of knows him, through Tim mostly. Sodapop’s okay in Curly’s eyes, he can bet a bit … _much_ sometimes but he’s fun to hang around with. Sodapop doesn’t play Quidditch or anything, he just kind of fucks around with Randle and Mathews. 

Curly’s eyes drift past the Hufflepuff table and onto the Ravenclaw. His eyes land on the youngest Curtis almost immediately. Ponyboy’s a fourth year like him, but Curly’s not very close with him. He notices that Ponyboy, unlike Sodapop, does look different. He looks older, his features more defined and his hair is longer, falling around his face in tufts. He’s sitting with his friends, but as far as Curly can tell, isn’t engaging in the conversation much. He looks sad and tired and Curly feels kind of bad for him.

Gwen sighs. “I’ll try catch him before we head up to the dorms.”

She suddenly looks at Curly, her expression changing from sad to stern. 

“And you,” She says to a really confused Curly who has no fucking idea what she’s about to say, “You really shouldn’t be on his back about Quidditch, you’re better off just leaving him alone.”

Curly stares at Gwen, and he feels very offended by this. Like he and Ponyboy’s Quidditch rivalry has anything to do with _her_! 

Okay right, so here’s the thing - Curly isn’t _really_ friends with Ponyboy Curtis _but_ they kind of have this back and forth thing going on. Basically in second year they both made the Quidditch team for the respective houses - Curly playing chaser and Ponyboy as a seeker. So for the past two years they’ve had a … _friendly_ competitive rivalry going on. It’s mostly friendly, though it usually gets more bitter the closer they get to the final. Curly knows exactly what Gwen is talking about - last year, before the semi final between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, Curly kind of maybe tried to hurt (not a _lot_ , just a little bit!) Ponyboy by attempting a tripping jinx on him in the hallway. It didn’t work out, and it ended with Ponyboy casting a real horrible Stickfast hex on Curly, that left him with his shoes stuck to the ground and unable to move from his spot in the hall for five hours. It was an unfair advantage really, Curtis is far better at magic than him!

Anyways, Gwen thinks it’s now _mean_ because he’s parents are dead.

“You do know that Curtis is just as bad a me with that shit, right?!” Curly says loudly. He is not about to let all the blame be put on _him_.

“Well, I mean Ponyboy’s real nice to everyone - it’s only _you_ he really hexes Shepard,” Ricky adds. 

Curly elbows his friends harshly in the ribs. Ricky cries out dramatically. 

_“See!”_ Gwen exclaims, “You obviously start it most of the time!”

_“Bullshit!”_

Gwen just raises her eyebrows at his frustration and continues on, “Either way, I doubt Ponyboy will be up for that little _thing_ you two do this year.” She then turns to Nico. “Me and Benny are gonna go catch up with him after the feast, you coming?”

Nico just hums, his mouth full of food. Curly knows those three are real close with Ponyboy - Nico was even sitting with him on the train. He doesn’t really know why he never really talked to Ponyboy outside of their Quidditch rivalry. Their brother’s all hang around together and, the more he thinks about it, it’s weird to him that he and Ponyboy have never really hung out alone. 

“Well, at least we have something nice to look at during class now,” Amira, a Gryffindor girl in Curly’s year mutters to her friend Nina and they both start giggling, looking in Ponyboy’s direction. 

Curly starts piling more food onto his plate and changes the conversation subject from Ponyboy Curtis.

“Hey Nico man, did I tell ya i got a new broom?”

* * *

  
  


Curly makes his way up to the Gryffindor dorms with Benny and Gwen by his side. The staircases are just as old and fucking long as they’ve always been. Benny’s just about to have a heart attack climbing up then all.

“Watch the vanishing step!” Gwen warns. The staircases are full of dodgy little tricks like that - it’s like the school wants them to die. Curly dodges said step that’s existence he was well aware before Gwen warning. He wasn’t planning on saying anything about it, it’s funny when people get stuck in that thing. 

“I hope they start using normal fuckin’ words as the password this year, I’m sick of havin’ to to remember all those complicated words,” Curly remarks to Benny as they reach the dorm rooms. 

“They’re usually Latin,” Benny gasps from beside him, out of breath from the steep stairs. Curly isn't - has he mentioned he plays Quidditch? 

A prefect is standing outside the common room, telling the students the current password. He nods to three of them when they reach him. 

“Passwords _Caput Draconis_.”

“Jesus fuck can’t y’all pick a normal fuckin’ one for once!” 

The prefect shrugs at Curly, looking terribly bored, and turns his attention to the group of students coming up the stairs. Gwen says the password and The Fat Lady swings her portrait open, allowing them access into the common room.

Curly immediately belines for the armchairs in front of the fire. They’re his favourite thing about the common room - they’re so fucking _comfy_. Now that he’s a fourth year he has control over the brats in years 1,2 and 3 as well. If he wants to sit in the chair and one of them brats are there, Curly has every right to tell them to fuck off somewhere else. It’s just how things work - in his mind at least. 

He sinks into his chair finally at peace and ready to sleep off the mountains of food he ate when fucking Ricky’s voice calls through the common room. 

“Curly!”

Curly groans and sinks lower into his chair. “Fuck _off_ man.”

Ricky snaps his fingers right in Curly’s face, causing his eyes to open. “Oi, this is serious man! Listen, Sheldon’s been made captain.”

Curly stares at him for a moment and then leans forward. “Fuckin’ _what_?!”

“Sylvia just told me, how fucking shit is this?”

Curly shoots out of the chair and looks widely around the common room. He spots Sylvia’s dark hair in the corner, curled by the window and half sprints to her.

“Sylvia, fuck I- Sheldon what the _fuck_!”

Sylvia understands what he means straight away. She’s sitting on the window ledge, with that girl Evie next to her. Sylvia gives him that half smile only she can pull off and takes a puff out of the smoke in her hand. She then shrugs. 

“I know. I was real pissed as well at first, but no point in cryin’ about it.”

“Everything’s fucked now! Shit I hate that bastard!” Curly exclaims. He buries his head in his hands. He had everything planned, and fucking Sheldon has to fuck it all up. 

He reaches his hand. “Bum me a smoke, will ya?”

Sylvia tosses him a pack and a lighter. Curly lights up and then looks at her once again. 

“So, what are we gonna do?”

Sylvia snorts. “What, you wanna _kill_ him?”

Curly perks up at that.“Yeah that’s the spirit! I can talk to Dal about it - remember last year when he hexed Sheldon’s right in the balls from bothering that Cade kid? He’ll definitely take care of it.”

Evie stares at him like he has three heads. Sylvia throws her head back with laughter.

“Shit Curly,” She says between her laughter, “All that because he’s captain? You’re worse than your brother.”

Curly stares at her. “It’s Gryffindor’s year Sylvia and I’m not about to let that prick mess that up!” He waves his wand and gets rid of his cigarette butt before continuing on.

“I don’t know how the fuck he got it over you, you out fly him every match.”

Sylvia grins at the compliment and then says. “Listen, I was even more worked up about this then you were kid but you gotta admit Sheldon’s a good beater, we’re just gonna have to deal with all shit that comes with him.” A smug smile crosses her face. “Besides it might be funny to see him get worked up over trying to get us to listen to him.”

Curly sighs and let’s the conversation drop. Sylvia’s right. It’s just really annoying that Bob fucking Sheldon, despite being a grade A asshole, got captain over Sylvia, who actually deserves it.

Sylvia and Evie leave soon after, heading up to the girls 7th year dorms and leaving him alone. He smokes a few more cigarettes - Sylvia left her pack down here so Curly is definitely going to take advantage of that. The common room is mostly empty, only him and a group of 6th years left. His friends have gone to bed, but Curly just really isn’t in the mood to sleep. Or listen to Charlie snore. They’ve made a rule that he has to put a silencing charm around his bed, but it never usually holds. God Curly doesn’t think he can handle sharing a dorm with that kid for another three years. It’s a miracle he hasn’t killed him yet - Not that he hasn’t _tried,_ Ricky usually holds him back.

He leans against the cold glass of the window and watches the sky. Curly’s pretty shit at Astronomy class but he likes how all the stars and shit look at night sometimes. Especially when he’s on a broom. Nothing beats flying at night. He forms a quick plan in his head to sneak out after curfew sometime this week so he can fly at night. Ricky will probably come.

He stays there until everyone has long gone, and when he does finally sleep, he dreams of flying through the night air under the stars.


	2. Chapter 2

Curly wakes up alone the next morning. He’s a bit offended to tell the truth, like obviously Nico and Charlie can go down - especially Charlie - but Benny and Ricky ought to wait for him, you know to be a good friend and all that shit!

He trudges through Hogwarts, slowly making his way to the Great Hall. He takes a bit of a longer route, to see if anything new has popped up that’s worth checking out. He doesn’t find anything interesting, and smugly thinks that he’s figured out every secret that is hidden in Hogwarts. And he didn’t even read that dumb book about the history of Hogwarts. 

He walks along the Gryffindor table to where his friends are sitting. Various people greet him as he walks by - again, he’s a Shepard - and a group of third year girls giggle as he passes them - also, he’s very very good looking.

He takes a seat next to Gwen, who has Nico next to her who has Charlie next to him and Curly is not sitting beside _him_. Ricky is opposite him next to Benny, the other girls from their year are sitting next to them.

Benny shoves a piece of parchment at him. “Here’s your schedule.”

Curly scans it briefly and groans. “Fuckin’ hell, Potions first thing three times a _week_! Are they tryin’ to kill me?!

“Least we got Muggle Studies first period today - that class is a doss,” Ricky points out. 

Thank god. Him and Ricky usually spend that class charming their paper airplanes to fly. He looks over Ricky’s shoulder, and spots Tim sitting at the table closest to the Gryffindor one, instead of at the other end of the hall.

His brother is instead sitting at the Hufflepuff table instead of Slytherin. Tim sits there sometimes with Dallas, Steve and Two-Bit. All four of them are in Slytherin, but Curly knows that Steve Randle is practically connected by the hip to Sodapop Curtis, who is a Hufflepuff - hence why he sits there a lot. The others usually join him, for Sodapop and that kid Johnny. Curly has never really spoken to the quiet Hufflepuff, but Dallas seems to really dig him so he must be alright. Two-Bit Mathews is excitedly talking, his hands making wild gestures as he does so. Curly notices Ponyboy sitting with them too, but just like the feast yesterday, isn’t paying much attention and looks very lost in thought. Sodapop is watching his younger brother from a few seats down, his face etched with worry.

Curly notices that in their inter-house friendship group, Gryffindor is left out. Which is by far the best house - like come _on_ you have two Hufflepuffs and not one Gryffindor??

Well actually, he supposes there is Darrel Curtis who is a Gryffindor legend and is pretty good friends with them. But Curly’s not going to count that because Darrel has graduated. As far as he's concerned, that friend group is anti-Gryffindor.

Fuckers. 

Ponyboy Curtis stands up from his seat, shoving books into his bag. He says something to Johnny before walking away from the table. Sodapop grabs Ponyboy’s arm as he walks by, and Curly watches with interest as the two brothers exchange words. Yeah he’s nosy, so what! He watches Ponyboy’s face as they talk, he keeps smiling at Sodapop but it doesn’t seem very genuine. Sodapop still has that worried look from before and Curly wonders if Ponyboy is sick or some shit like that. Ponyboy eventually shakes his arm out of his brother’s grasp and begins to walk away again, right towards the Gryffindor table _oh fuck -_

“Hey,” he stops in front of Nico and smiles.

Nico smiles back. “Hey Pony, just give me two seconds.”

Ponyboy looks at him and Curly tries to pretend he wasn’t just spying on him and his brother.

Ponyboy nods at Curly as a greeting. “Shepard.”

Curly nods back. “Curtis.”

Their eyes are locked for a moment before Ponyboy looks away. Curly wonders if he should say something about his folks, condolences or some shit. But he doesn’t. If it were him in Ponyboy’s situation he wouldn’t want people pitying him and feeling sorry. So he keeps his mouth shut. 

Ricky then nods at Ponyboy. “Hey Curtis.”

“Hey man, you have a good Summer?” Ponyboy smiles at Ricky. Curly reckons he’s only ever seen Ponyboy and Ricky talk a handful of times - all of those times being in class. But Ponyboy still asks Ricky about his Summer because he’s nice like that. At least to everyone but him apparently _._

Ricky starts telling Ponyboy about his Summer and, much to Curly’s surprise, they actually start a conversation. A proper one. Curly has a sudden realisation that every single one of his friends _and_ everyone else in their year is pretty good friends with Ponyboy - and yet the kid hates his guts. 

Nico pushes his plate away from him and grabs his bag, throwing it over his shoulder and stands up next to Ponyboy. “We better get going, Ancient Runes is at the other side of the castle.”

Gwen follows suit and says a quick goodbye to Curly and Ricky. The three of them begin walking away, chatting and laughing about something or another, when Amira calls out to Ponyboy. 

“Hey, Ponyboy!”

He turns around, confusion crossing his face when he sees it’s Amira who called out to him.

“Uh, yeah?”

Amira glances back at her friends who are giggling and then says. “Save me a seat next to you in class, yeah?”

Ponyboy looks even more confused by this. “Oh, well I’ll probably sit next to Nico, but I’m sure Gwen will.”

He then turns on heel and continues on walking with Gwen and Nico on either side of him. Curly glances at Amira’s crestfallen face and snorts, wondering how the hell Ponyboy Curtis was ever sorted into Ravenclaw.

* * *

  
  


It’s a perfect day for playing Quidditch in Curly’s mind. He and the rest of his team are walking across Hogwarts vast Quidditch field for their first training session of the year. Curly can’t fucking wait, this is what he’s been waiting for all Summer - Quidditch is his _thing_.

He’s walking with Ricky and Mark. Sheldon is walking ahead of them - rightfully so, Curly doesn’t want to be near _that_ bastard - with their Keeper David trailing behind him, carrying a bag of equipment.

“Is it just me,” Ricky whispers to him as they walk, “Or has Sheldon’s head inflated ten times bigger since he got that badge?”

“Sure has,” Curly replies, he raises his voice and speaks again, “Don’t get me started on _how_ he got the badge, from what I remember from our semi final last year Bobby here can’t tell his lefts from his rights!”

If Bob heard him, which Curly hopes he did, he doesn’t react. He continues on walking with his head high in the air. Sylvia, who obviously heard him loud and clear, turns around and shoots him a sly wink. 

They reach the Quidditch pitch and David tosses the bag full of their equipment onto the grass. Curly’s bouncing on his heels at this point, itching to feel the wind whipping through his hair as he flies and a Quaffle under his arm as he dodges other players. 

“Right,” Sheldon shouts, clapping his hands together, “Uh - let’s just start with a few laps then. Get everyone’s blood pumping.”

Curly grabs his broom - his new Comet 360!!! - and tosses his leg over it. Sylvia takes off next to him, her dark ponytail whipping past his face as she does so. Curly steadies his feet and gets into position, this is what he _loves_ , this is his thing! He begins to push his feet off the ground when a yell makes him whip his head around. 

_“Bob?”_

Bob, who had only been about two inches off the air, hops off his broomstick and let’s it clatter onto the grass. 

“Randy? Man what the fuck are you doing here?”

Not just Randy - the entire Ravenclaw Quidditch team is standing behind him. Curly see’s a bag tossed over Randy’s shoulder, and realises they’re here to use the pitch as well. 

_You’ve got to be shitting me…_

Ponyboy Curtis is standing a bit behind Randy, next to that Red headed girl _(Sherri ?? Or Cherry ??)_ Cherry - he’ll go with that name - has her arms crosses and is giving Bob a dirty look. As though they’re not the ones who interrupted _Gyrffindor’s_ training session, why is she pissed off. Ponyboy looks at him and they make eye contact for a second. Curly gives Ponyboy the stink eye before breaking it. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the Ravenclaw's eyes widen slightly, looking surprised at Curly’s reaction. Why is he surprised? It’s not like they’re _friends!_ Well, Curly doesn’t actually know _why_ they aren’t friends, they're just not. So he can give the stink eye all he wants.

Randy frowns at Bob and says. “I’m here for training, Ravenclaw has the pitch for an hour.”

Bob shakes his head. “No, Gryffindor are here.”

“Uh, says who?”

“Uh, _me_!”

Randy frowns at that. Curly knows that he and Sheldon are real good friends - they’re pricks too, always hexing people for no good reason - so _maybe_ he’ll leave out of the kindness of his heart and let Gryffindor - the superior house _and_ team by the way - use the pitch.

“No literally _who_ told you that? Randy asks. He then throws the bag that had been tossed over his shoulder and begins digging through it, pulling out a piece of parchment.

“Here look, I got permission from Hooch for Ravenclaw to train tonight.”

Curly spins around the look at Bob. 

“Where’s your permission Sheldon”

Bob looks at him, opens his mouth and then closes it. Curly could have punched him. Instead he cusses him out. 

“Are you soft!? Why did _fuck_ didn’t you get any?!”

Bob glares at him. “Shut up Shepard!”

He then looks at Randy and opens his mouth, only to let out the most pathetic argument Curly has ever heard in his life.

“Well, we were here first!”

Randy just shrugs at his friend. “You gotta book it man, I’m sorry.”

Bob just stares at him and Curly reckons this is the first time in his life Bob Sheldon hasn’t got what he wanted. He looks like he’s about two seconds from throwing his broomstick on the ground and throwing a tantrum. 

“Oi,” Curly jumps in, “Can y’all not just let us train first and then you can take your hour after?”

Randy blinks at him, as though he’s only just noticed he was there. “Kid, I _booked_ it. I did what every Captain is meant to do before a session.”

Curly doesn’t like the way Randy is looking down on him, as though he’s _below_ him or some shit. He opens his mouth to retort but is cut off by Sheldon. 

“Yeah well, no one told _me_ that.”

First he tells him to shut up and _now_ he’s talking over him. Oh Curly is definitely giving Sheldon a nasty hex tomorrow.

Cherry rolls her eyes at his statement. Curly hears someone from Ravenclaw mutter something about - _“Typical Gryffindors”_

Curly scowls. Fucking Ravenclaw thinking there better than everyone else. He’ll hex them too. Not Ponyboy though. Curly has tried that before and he fucking paid. Man Ponyboy Curtis sure can cast a nasty hex.

Randy sighs deeply and hands the parchment in his hand to Sheldon himself.

“Look see for yourself, here’s permission from Madam Hooch. Captain’s gotta get that before a training session, okay?”

As much as he hates it, Curly knows they’re going to have to leave. It’s Sheldon’s fault, he should have known about booking the pitch - even Curly knew that. 

Sylvia must feel the same way, as she says, “C’mon Sheldon, just book it for tomorrow.”

There’s a twinge of anger in her voice, directed at Sheldon. He glares at her and then shoves the note back in Randy’s hand. 

“ _Fine,_ whatever!”

He storms off leaving the rest of the team standing there kind of awkwardly. A moment's silence passes before Sylvia breaks it. 

“Have a good session,” She says coolly. 

Randy nods at her and begins rooting through the bag he had tossed on the grass. Cherry looks at Sylvia for a moment and then says, 

“Thanks.”

Sylvia nods back, a sort of polite smile on her lips, and then turns and leaves the pitch. Curly watches her go for a moment and thinks that the events that just conspired are a perfect example of why Sylvia should have gotten Captain over Bob Sheldon.

Ricky sighs and hoists his broom over his shoulder, waiting for Curly to walk with him. Curly finds himself watching the Ravenclaw team begin their training - particularly the green-eyed seeker who is currently flying through the air on his broomstick. Curly is wholeheartedly jealous of Ponyboy right now. Then Curly notices that Ponyboy’s entire face is relaxed, and he looks completely at peace as he flies - something which Curly hasn’t seen in him since he was pulled out of that potions class all those months ago.

“Curly, let’s go!”

He drags his gaze away from Ponyboy and begins the walk back to the castle

* * *

Curly rants about Bob Sheldon for the whole walk, with Ricky occasionally getting a word or a curse in. 

“- and I ain’t just talkin’ about today man, he’s always been a fuckin’ _prick_!”

Ricky nods his head in agreement. “I mean it doesn’t surprise me really. He’s spoiled, you ought to see his house - his family is fuckin’ _loaded_.”

Curly scoffs. “Yeah no wonder, being’ a prick is what comes with being rich.”

“Yeah…” says Ricky. He pauses for a moment, before saying, “You reckon they all think we’re pricks too?”

Curly waves him off. “We’re allowed be pricks to them - they can just go have a swim in their indoor fuckin’ pool to cool off.”

Ricky snorts.

“Curly!”

Curly turns around at the shout of his name. Tim waves him over from across the hall. 

Curly turns to Ricky, “You comin’?”

Ricky shakes his head, “Nah I gotta write an essay, I’ll see ya upstairs.”

Curly smirks. That essay excuse is bullshit - Ricky’s just half scared of Tim and Dallas. Coward. Maybe he should have been a Hufflepuff.

His brother is leaning against the stone wall along with Dallas, Steve, Sodapop and Johnny. He walks over to them, grinning as he does. 

“Hey Tim.”

His brother’s eyes scan his face. “You good? We were just talkin’ to Sylvia - she said Sheldon’s bein’ a right fucker.”

“When is he not?”

Dallas then smirks, “Don’t worry bout it, we’re gonna get him good.”

Usually, Curly would protest about four Slytherins and two Hufflepuff’s planning something against a Gryffindor - you know, house unity and all - but Curly really could not give a flying fuck about Bob Sheldon. Or Charlie. The other Gryffindor’s are cool.

Curly grins. “Tuff. Let me know when you are so I can help.”

“So, I take it y’all didn’t get to train then?” Steve says. 

Curly shakes his head ruefully, “Nah, he ‘didn’t know’ you had to book it. Which is bullshit, he definitely just thought he could get away with whatever he wanted.”

“Sounds like you,” Tim quips. Curly swings at his brother, who promptly catches it.

“Well,” Steve continues on, “I booked it for Slytherin tomorrow so you’ll have to wait a day or two.”

Curly curses - both at Steve's revelation and Tim, who now has him in a headlock. 

“Uncle!”

Tim let’s him go and shoves him slightly. Curly scowls at him, he never does this shit with Angela!

“Man I hope Hufflepuff aren’t after booking, I’m itching to get on a broom.”

“We have,” says Johnny Cade from next to Dallas.

“Fuck _sake_!”

They all laugh at him.

“Forget about Quidditch man,” Two-Bit laughs at him, “Everyone knows Gryffindor ain’t gonna win - y’all have been shit since Darry left!”

“Fuck _you_ snake, it’s our year!”

Steve, Dallas, Two-Bit and Tim all wave him off. 

Curly scoffs, “Don’t tell me you think _Slytherin_ is going to win!”

“Course we are, we’re by far the best team,” Steve says, a cocky look on his face.

Curly laughs loudly and that. Johnny then chimes into the conversation. 

“Y’all are forgetting about Hufflepuff.”

They all look at him. Dallas places his hand on Johnny’s shoulder. 

“Johnnycake, your house mascot is a fuckin’ _badger_.”

“Oi,” exclaims Sodapop, “Don’t talk shit about Hufflepuff, we’re the best house!”

A silence falls among the group for a second. Curly breaks it. 

“That’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard in my _life_.”

Two-Bit ruffles Johnny’s hair. “Don’t worry kid, y’all are the uh - the _nicest_ house.”

They all snicker at that. Sodapop waves him them all off. 

“Just wait, Hufflepuff’s glory will come.”

“Sure, it’s bound to after 1000 years,” Tim smirks. 

Sodapop gives him the finger. 

“Slytherin are gonna win of course, _but_ I reckon Ravenclaw are the only team that will give us a run for our money,” Two-Bit states. 

“Only cause they’ve got Pony,” Johnny says.

Two-Bit shakes his head. “The kid is far too good a seeker for anyone else to stand a chance.”

Sodapop beams Two-Bit’s words.

Two-Bit continues on. “Actually Stevie, how’s that seeker of ours? Reckon he’s better than the kid?”

Steve sighs. “I hate to say it but, no he ain’t. I’m gonna be workin’ him a lot this year.”

“Don’t worry Randle, I’ll just hit Pony with a nice bludger when I see him goin’ for the snitch,” Dallas says casually.

Sodapop glares at Dallas, who raises his arms in mock fear.

“Yeah and I’ll distract him,” Two-Bit adds with excitement.

“Two you don’t even play.”

“Yeah but I commentate, my voice is louder than anyone else’s there,” Two-Bit says matter of factly.

Sodapop then looks at Curly. “Hey Shepard, how was he at training?”

"...Who?"

"Ponyboy!"

Curly furrows his eyebrows. Why the fuck would he know, who does Sodapop think he is?

“Why would I know?” 

“You guys are friends, right?”

Curly snorts but Sodapop just frowns when he does, not seeing the humor Curly does. 

Curly stares at him for a moment and then says. “Uh, no we ain’t.”

“But I always see him at the Gryffindor table…”

“He’s not there for me man, your kid brother hates me.”

Sodapop’s still frowning, which doesn’t suit his handsome features at all. He shakes his head slightly and says, “Ponyboy couldn’t hate anybody.”

This statement takes Steve by surprise, making him choke the cigarette he had been smoking. He turns to Sodapop, an incredulous look on his face.

Curly just shrugs, “Well, just lock him in a room with me and you’ll see for yourself.”

Sodapop chews his lip and then diverts his attention to the floor. Curly can vaguely hear him muttering under his breath, something about talking to … _Nico? Maybe?_

Sodapop seems very troubled while thinking about his little brother, which is weird to Curly. The Curtis’ have always been closer in a different way than he and his siblings - more affectionate and loving. Tim usually cusses Curly out as a way of showing he cares. Not that Curly thinks he _doesn’t,_ he knows Tim cares about him and Angela, and Curly himself would take a bullet for either of them. But he doesn’t put them on a pedestal the way Sodapop does with Ponyboy. He doesn’t constantly worry about them the way Sodapop is right now. He wonders if Ponyboy ever gets tired of it - he sure as hell would. 

Steve, who has now recovered from his shock at Sodapop’s words, reaches his hand out and pats his friend on the back. “Don’t worry about the kid man, he’ll be back smart mouthing people in no time.”

Sodapop smiles at his friend, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. Curly thinks of how sad and closed off Ponyboy looks whenever he sees him. He remembers how different he was before that fateful potions class last year. Ponyboy’s always been kind of quiet - at least to Curly - but he had a sort of brightness to him, a spark that made him stand out in a crowd. Now Ponyboy seems to try his hardest to fit in with the crowd and Curly actually misses - yes _misses_ \- the spark that was there before. Ponyboy sure could talk back when he wanted to. Curly will even admit that someone of his comebacks and witty comments really impressed _him._

He’s gotten a few shot at him over the years, during their very few conversations, and they were all fucking good. Curly couldn’t even be _mad_.

Maybe that’s why Sodapop is worried, because he misses that side of his little brother.

Tim breaks Curly’s train of thought by yawning, in a really over egasagrated way. 

“I better head up, you know homework and shit.”

Tim leans over and ruffles Curly’s hair and turns on his heel. Curly reaches for his wand to hex Tim for messing with his hair, but stops in his tracks when Tim’s sentence registers in his brain. _Homework?_ In the seven years his brother has been at Hogwarts, Curly doesn’t think he’s ever left his friends for _homework_.

Holy _shit_ is Tim actually taking his studies seriously now? Is he going to try make Curly do the same? He can fuck right off if he thinks Curly Shepard will ever willingly not do something fun for fucking homework.

Dallas stretches and then says. “I better go too, gotta head to Sluggy’s for detention.”

Without so much as a goodbye, he walks away from the group, in the same direction as Tim.

“Oi dumbass!” Two-Bit calls after his retreating back, “Slughorn’s office is the other way!”

Dallas doesn’t acknowledge Two-Bit and turns around the corner, out of sight.

Two-Bit scoffs. “Ain’t gotta wonder why he wasn’t put in Ravenclaw.”

Steve snorts. He pulls out a pack of smokes and passes them around. Curly gladly takes one, and decides to to go up to the common room just yet.

Curly hangs out with them for the rest of the night, and only heads up to bed when Filch chases them down the corridor. 

**Author's Note:**

> so i really wanted to write a purly hogwarts au for a while sooooo here we are !!  
> i hope you enjoyed the first chapter !!!
> 
> also i'm sorry about curly being a dickhead to every house but gryffindor he's very cocky


End file.
